Take 15 minutes for family literacy

Published: Sunday, January 18, 2004 at 6:01 a.m.

Last Modified: Saturday, January 17, 2004 at 11:00 p.m.

A typographical error led to my talking with a lot of parents and teachers in Maryland in the past week, about literacy.

All the calls began with, "Is this the number for ordering Take 15 literacy materials?" It wasn't. Every time I hung up the phone, it rang again. Same question.

I deduced the calls were being misrouted to my companion's number here in northeast Alabama. I went on the Internet to learn more about Take 15.

It seems the Maryland Department of Education was offering materials for Family Literacy Day on Jan. 23. They sent out a toll-free number to call.

I sent an e-mail to a woman in the Maryland Department of Education to tell her the phone wires were crossed somewhere. She said she would pass the information along, and I should let her know if the calls continued. They did.

I called another person I found in the department's directory. She would also pass along the information. The calls continued.

Each time another person called - they were all women, mothers or teachers - I tried to be gracious and took time to explain that, while I had a personal and professional interest in promoting literacy, I could not send them any materials.

They were as puzzled as I was on why I was getting their calls.

Finally, one of the callers told me she had a local number in addition to the toll-free number. I called it and reached the right office. After I explained the problem, a woman tried the toll-free number and got me. She passed the problem to a telecommunications expert who would try to find the glitch.

Then I got a call from companion's long distance carrier asking, "Do you want this number turned off?" No, I said, it's a private residential number. I just want the misrouted calls sent to the right place.

Then another person from the long distance company called and explained that when companion signed up for their service a couple of years ago, she accepted the offer of a toll-free number. If anybody called it, it would ring on her home phone.

Companion didn't even remember getting a toll-free number. She had never given it to anybody, and it had never been used. That is, until the Maryland Department of Education mistakenly put it on the thousands of brochures it sent out to promote Family Literacy Day.

We are no longer getting calls from those who want literacy materials, but neither is the office that wants to send them out.

The Maryland literacy initiative encourages families to spend just 15 minutes a day reading - parents reading to children, children reading to parents - books, magazines, even recipe cards.

One tip is for parents and children to exchange notes, teaching the little ones how to use the written language and have fun at the same time.

As a wordmonger, I promote literacy whenever I can. I taught reading to adults as a volunteer and taught remedial English to college freshman as a graduate teaching assistant.

I gave books to several people on my Christmas list - a poetry collection for an aspiring writer, journals for those in high school and college, books on tape for some younger students, and cloth books for my newest grandson, 5 months old.

Now I encourage you to join Maryland in observing Family Literacy Day with your children.

You can learn more about it on the Internet: www.marylandpublicschools.org/family_literacy/take15.

They did have a toll-free number, but I had it turned off.

Darrell Norman is a staff writer and columnist for The Gadsden Times. His e-mail address is daxnorman@mindspring.com.

<p>A typographical error led to my talking with a lot of parents and teachers in Maryland in the past week, about literacy.</p><!-- Nothing to do. The paragraph has already been output --><p>All the calls began with, "Is this the number for ordering Take 15 literacy materials?" It wasn't. Every time I hung up the phone, it rang again. Same question.</p><p>I deduced the calls were being misrouted to my companion's number here in northeast Alabama. I went on the Internet to learn more about Take 15.</p><p>It seems the Maryland Department of Education was offering materials for Family Literacy Day on Jan. 23. They sent out a toll-free number to call.</p><p>I sent an e-mail to a woman in the Maryland Department of Education to tell her the phone wires were crossed somewhere. She said she would pass the information along, and I should let her know if the calls continued. They did.</p><p>I called another person I found in the department's directory. She would also pass along the information. The calls continued.</p><p>Each time another person called - they were all women, mothers or teachers - I tried to be gracious and took time to explain that, while I had a personal and professional interest in promoting literacy, I could not send them any materials.</p><p>They were as puzzled as I was on why I was getting their calls.</p><p>Finally, one of the callers told me she had a local number in addition to the toll-free number. I called it and reached the right office. After I explained the problem, a woman tried the toll-free number and got me. She passed the problem to a telecommunications expert who would try to find the glitch.</p><p>Then I got a call from companion's long distance carrier asking, "Do you want this number turned off?" No, I said, it's a private residential number. I just want the misrouted calls sent to the right place.</p><p>Then another person from the long distance company called and explained that when companion signed up for their service a couple of years ago, she accepted the offer of a toll-free number. If anybody called it, it would ring on her home phone.</p><p>Companion didn't even remember getting a toll-free number. She had never given it to anybody, and it had never been used. That is, until the Maryland Department of Education mistakenly put it on the thousands of brochures it sent out to promote Family Literacy Day.</p><p>We are no longer getting calls from those who want literacy materials, but neither is the office that wants to send them out.</p><p>The Maryland literacy initiative encourages families to spend just 15 minutes a day reading - parents reading to children, children reading to parents - books, magazines, even recipe cards.</p><p>One tip is for parents and children to exchange notes, teaching the little ones how to use the written language and have fun at the same time.</p><p>As a wordmonger, I promote literacy whenever I can. I taught reading to adults as a volunteer and taught remedial English to college freshman as a graduate teaching assistant.</p><p>I gave books to several people on my Christmas list - a poetry collection for an aspiring writer, journals for those in high school and college, books on tape for some younger students, and cloth books for my newest grandson, 5 months old.</p><p>Now I encourage you to join Maryland in observing Family Literacy Day with your children.</p><p>You can learn more about it on the Internet: www.marylandpublicschools.org/family_literacy/take15.</p><p>They did have a toll-free number, but I had it turned off.</p><p>Darrell Norman is a staff writer and columnist for The Gadsden Times. His e-mail address is daxnorman@mindspring.com.</p>